Brush cleaning apparatus



March 20, 1951 o. L. NEWTON ETAL BRUSH CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 14, 1947 Patented Mar. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES TENT O-fFiF -laC-E' BRUSH CLEANING APPARATUS Orville L. Newton, Harvey, wnd.=IiyleM.1Ericksn-,. Chicagoplll.

Application February 14, 1947, Serial'No. 728,430

the brush may be held (immersed in a liquid cleaner...

When brushes are used with. .paint, varnish, lacquer,- and the like, it' is necessary that the brushes-be. cleaned before being. used again. .One of the common ways ofcl'eaning a brush is to soak the bristles in a liquid that has a solvent or softening action on the material on the brush. This has been done in the past by immersing the bristles in the cleaning liquid and allowing them to remain in this liquid until the material has become sufiiciently soft. Often the brushes are merely stood on end in a can of liquid. This procedure however, harms the bristles as they tend to get out of shape and become bent thereby shortening the life of the brush. The present invention is designed to overcome these disadvantages.

One of the objects of the present invention is the provision of a holder for a paint brush so that the bristles may be immersed in a cleaning liquid with the weight of the brush distributed over a large surface of the bristle structure with the end of the bristle structure being held in the preferred pointed shape. Another object of the invention is the provision of such an improved holder whereby the loosened paint particles are permitted to fall to the bottom of the holder away from the bristles. A further object of the invention is the provision of such a holder wherein the holder is provided with a roughened surface so that the bristles of the brush may be wiped across the surface to'dislodge particles of the material on the brush. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent in the following description and the accompanying drawings. 7

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a paint brush holder constructed according to the principles of this invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken substantially through the center of the holder and showing a paint brush supported therein; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken along line 33 of Fig. 2.

In the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, the holder comprises a container or pan Ill having sides Illaand ends lflb sloping outwardly from the vertical. Within the pan 10 there is located a liner in the form of a relatively stiff woven wire screen II arranged in an arc 2 and ha'vi ng the--central-portion thereof above th liquid surface IZ'; The sides-4 1a. of the'screen fl are adapted to be located adjacent the bottom corners of the pan it. The areas of the screen adjacent these *edges slope inwardly so that-one of'the adjacent-areas and the corresponding sid'e [ta of the pan forms -av v shaped structure as shown in Fig. 3.

A paint brush |"3' is adapted to be supported by a side- -l lid of -the*=pan=-and the screen l l As shown in Fig. 3, the brush is supported between the side Ella of the pan and the side of the screen ll so that the bottom of the bristle structure I4 is slightly above the bottom of the pan. Because the bottom of the bristles is above the bottom of the pan, the weight of the brush is necessarily supported from the sides of the bristle structure. It has been discovered that if the brush is supported without having any substantial amount of weight on the ends of the bristles, the life of the brush is considerably extended. When supported in this position, the bristle structure I4 is held pointed at the bottom with the bristles completely immersed in the cleaning liquid.

After the brush has been soaked in the cleaning liquid for a sufficient period of time, it may be rubbed back and forth over the screen II to dislodge loosened particles of paint and the like. These loosened particles then fall through the screen H to the bottom of the pan. The brush may then be laid on the structure as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 so that the liquid may drain from the bristle structure.

The screen II is relatively stiff and maintains its shape. As it is not fastened to the pan Ill, but merely rests therein, the screen may be easily removed for cleaning the pan.

The sides lila of the container and the curvature of the screen II is such that a V-shaped groove is provided on each side of the container which is approximately the proper angle for supporting the brush. In cleaning the brush, the curved top of the liner provides an excellent cleaning surface and this is especially helpful in cleaning the heel of the brush or that portion near the handle. The woven wire in the screen provides sufficient abrasiveness to clean the brush properly when the brush is drawn across and rubbed against the screen. In most constructions, it is preferred that the top of the screen be approximately one inch below the top edge of the pan to prevent liquid being splashed over the sides.

Although the supporting member is shown to be a screen, it could be any type of perforated 3 material. The sides Na and the ends lb of the pan are shown sloped outwardly.

The pan I0 and the screen I I are preferably made of material such as steel. It is, of course, obvious that any other material of construction may be used so long as it has sufiicient strength and resistance to the liquid cleaner. Thus, the pan may be made of wood, synthetic resin, or the like and the screen may also be made of a resin.

The liquid cleaner that is used for cleaning the brushes may be any solvent or softener or other material having a cleaning action. Thus, where the brush contains a paint, the liquid may be kerosene.

Although in the drawings, only one brush is shown, it is readily apparent that more than one brush may be cleaned at the same time. Where more than one brush is to be cleaned, the brushes may be arranged side by side along one or both sides of the apparatus.

Having described our invention as related to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, it is our intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

We claim:

1. A holder for a paint brush or the like wherein the brush may be held immersed in a liquid cleaner, said holder comprising a container for the liquid having a pair of oppositely located bottom edge portions, and a support means for said brushes extending in a continuous are from one of said bottom edge portions of the container to the opposite bottom edge portion thereof with the central portion of said support means projecting above the normal liquid level in the container.

2. The holder of claim 1 wherein said support means comprises a relatively stiff woven wire screen.

ORVILLE L. NEWTON. LYLE M. ERICKSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 377,306 Illoway Jan. 31, 1888 378,608 McClung Feb. 28, 1888 482,082 Deming et a1 Sept. 6, 1892 1,285,948 Cook Nov. 26, 1918 1,553,023 Bonnell Sept. 8, 1925 1,590,572 Fredette June 29, 1926' 2,081,570 Akergren May 25, 1937 

